The Witching Hour
by 42believer
Summary: They both thought they would never speak to one another again, each thinking they had a higher calling of the lunar variety. Only when the darkness finally returns do the two realize how their past links them together.


Chapter 1

She didn't see it coming. It was the type of danger where even the smallest of moments mattered, and she failed at each and every turn. Do you step this way, or that way? Should you hide or run? Fight or flee? Climb a tree, or stay on the ground? If you are with people, do you leave them behind or stick together?

In her case, logic didn't care if it made more sense to leave the people with her behind. Logic flew out the window for her. Because she's a mom, and they were her kids. And also because she would rather fight a bear using nothing but her hands while they ran away to safety. Guess what she was doing? Fighting a bear with nothing but her hands while her two children, Jack and Mary, escaped.

Strangely, a soft melody played in her head while she struggled, gashes opening up in droves as the claws slashed her skin with ease. It was sad but calming, like a requiem for the dead whose lives were given in pursuit of a greater purpose, like soldiers in a war or a mother dying in the midst of childbirth. One can guess her situation applied as well, although you wouldn't say it quite so grand as all that. She was just being a mom, nothing more.

Jolted back to reality, she fell back upon the ground, staring up at the best before her. It raised upon its hind legs and towered over her, imposing and wrapped in blackness as the light of the moon illuminated the tips of its fur. In what seemed like an eternity, it slowly fell on top of the woman, and for a split second she saw something. It wasn't really a bear, at least not in the traditional sense. There was something more to it, something darker and fluid. Get  
eyes widened and she flipped over in an attempt to crawl away. This was her big mistake. If she hadn't flipped over, if she hadn't tried to move, then his paw wouldn't have come down right on her spine.

She felt her bones crack and splinter as the heavy weight crushed her. Ignoring the excruciating pain for a moment (at the time she could not), her bones and joints made little popping sounds, like wood on a fire. The creature was the flame, her bones the kindling, and the searing heat of it all her anguish. A few of her bones were smashed completely, sending the parts of the bone into the nearby organs. Her muscles tore and insides burned as they were pierced by sheer force, and if you could see into her mind you must confess that through it all you saw no flashes of white behind her eyes. You would see only black, and her coming death. She only hoped her children could make it to safety.

But what she felt she will never forget. As she lay, seeping tears and enduring a must furious pain, something awoke in her. It was a sense of understanding, of acceptance, and serenity. This moment, while maybe not destiny, was supposed to happen and happen only to her. She was built to feel the blood draining out of her body, first from her finger tips, and gradually from her face, where the veins noticeably collapsed from their disuse. She was built to undergo the internal bleeding as her stomach expunged any last traces of food from her body, leaving a nasty taste in her mouth. She was obliged to hear her own bones scream in protest as nerve after nerve was virtually ripped apart. It had to be her because only she could understand why right now this needed to happen. She wanted to smile and let the world know this, but she was already dead.

_Is this what you felt brother_, she thought to herself, _when you sacrificed your life to save mine?_

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I think it's blatantly obvious who her brother is, but I'll say it anyway. It's Jack Frost. And no pairings in this story. NONE. What do you guys think? Shall I continue? If I get reviews I update really quickly, so...

If you liked this and want to see more, drop me a review. If you do drop me a review and/or save this story to your alerts and/or favorites, that will make me even happier and more likely to write the next chapter. If you feel like I'm taking to long to update this story, then feel free to friend me on facebook and bug me about it there. The link is in my profile.


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